I think the “normal items that helped” category is especially important, because it’s costly in terms of money, time, and space to get prepper gear specifically for the whole long tail of possible disasters. If resources are limited, then it’s best to focus on buying things that are both useful in everyday life and also are the general kind-of-thing that’s useful in disaster scenarios, even if you can’t specifically anticipate how.
I think the “normal items that helped” category is especially important, because it’s costly in terms of money, time, and space to get prepper gear specifically for the whole long tail of possible disasters. If resources are limited, then it’s best to focus on buying things that are both useful in everyday life and also are the general kind-of-thing that’s useful in disaster scenarios, even if you can’t specifically anticipate how.